Frutta in Italia: 2019

Frutta in Italia is a tea towel that my cousin Andrew bought for me, when he recently came over from Italy. “You haven’t already got this one, have you?”

“No definitely not. Got a lot of other Italian ones, but not this one” I said, knowing full-well I’d never even seen one like this one.

“I’d really like to see The Museum” said Andrew “I’ve heard so much about it”

“You ready for this” I say, as I open the cupboard doors. “The problem is that I have run out of hangers, so those ones in the lounge have nowhere to go”

“Ah I see, they really are on hangers”

“Of course they are, that is what I’ve been saying.” I take out Hanger Number 23, Andrew takes it and flicks through the ten tea towels hanging there, admiring each one. It just happens that they are all from England. “I have a small notebook which tells me which tea towels are hanging there. It’s all cross-referenced”

“How do you know if you have written a Blog about them?” He hasn’t been reading the Blog carefully enough!

“I have another book which catalogues, in date order, which ones have been written about”

Andrew then spots a large tea towel with a red border; it’s a possible Italian one. They have a distinctive style. Actually, I know it is an Italian one.

“So have you already got ‘Frutta in Italia'” he says accusingly.

“No I haven’t. I know I haven’t”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes I am sure. Do you think I’m cheating you out of a tea towel?”

He leaves the room with The Museum and flicks through the pile, on the back of a chair, in the lounge. When Andrew returns to his hotel I need to go through my list of tea towels, because he has made me doubt myself. I do not have ‘Frutta in Italia’. I then look at the rack where he saw the Italian tea towel. There were two: ‘Venezia’ and ‘Pasta’. I knew I was right.

So when Andrew reads this Blog he will know that I have identified the tea towels that he spotted. This is a great tea towel, or Kitchen Towel as they refer to them in Italy, a towel to wipe your hands on. What a waste that would be. Thank you, Andrew, for a wonderful addition to my Collection. Below are the tea towels he brought over for his aunt; I couldn’t resist a photograph.

Quirky 60 something with a passion for tea towels, retiring in June 2015. Also with a collection of tea pots, cups and saucers, jugs ... Love tea but only loose leaf. Love travelling and have ambition to visit every island around mainland Britain in the next couple of years - could be the subject of another blog.